Causes: Children & Youth, Community Recreational Centers, Family Services, Human Services, Neighborhood Centers, Sports, Youth Development Programs

Mission:

CA will operate as a non-profit organization in the city of Charlotte, NC. Through its foundation/government grants, other public donations and general membership fees (based on income) CA will provide charitable and educational services and jobs to the youth, and outreach services to adults and the elderly in the community. Our purpose is to inspire low to middle class communities to get back to focusing on family, physical fitness and education through life-enhancing programs that can create unlimited opportunities. Our goal is to provide a safe outlet for children between the ages of 6 - 18 and at the same time build confidence and self-esteem while instilling responsibility, teamwork, leadership, pride and values in our youth. The services will be provided to all families -- both those who can afford the membership and those who need assistance. CA recognizes that not all at-risk youth come from low income families, many of them come from homes with working parents in which work itself has become a first priority instead of family, leaving their children vulnerable to negative influences outside of the home.

Programs:  

Improving Grades & GPA’s:

CA is passionate about this area and we understand the importance of good grades. Our Program Manager (PM) will coordinate our volunteer program. Our PM will seek to recruit volunteers from local colleges to assist our afterschool students with their home work and to provide tutoring in math and science. We will coordinate with the colleges to arrange for our volunteers to receive class credit for their work at our center.   

Improving Physical Fitness & Health:

CA will provide after school sports leagues for the youth to keep them engaged in fun and positive physical activity. CA will have a social worker on staff that will coordinate professional volunteers to teach quarterly health education seminars on topics like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. CA will also seek volunteer professionals in the nutrition field to participate in an annual health fair. The health fair will address the importance of establishing and committing to a healthy mind set, shopping for and cooking healthy meals and snacks and physical fitness.

Juvenile Drop out Prevention:

Youth Life Skills & Leadership Programs – Although CA will have an open door to all families in the community our main focus is on at-risk youth in an effort to prevent/reduce teen violence. Our Program Manager (PM) will coordinate a mentorship program with business professionals who will help to support, encourage, guide and instill hope in our youth. We will also have a certified life skills coach on staff to teach classes on topics like the following:

• Making Good Decisions,
• Effective Goal Setting,
• Good Communication Skills,
• Building Self Esteem
• Empowerment & Leadership
• Financial Empowerment

Parenting & Life Skills Trainings – CA wants to address many of the issues that parents are facing by providing education, referrals, and information through a range of quality preventative and treatment education programs.   The education seminars will address issues like the following:

• Parenting skills for high risk parents.
• Pregnant and parenting teens.
• Grandparents raising their grandchildren.
• Parenting violent teens, individual / group counseling.
• Parents who want to improve their relationship with their children.
• Time Management / Making Time for Your Children.

Activities that Strengthen Families:

We understand that strong families build strong communities and this is the end result we are looking for. We want to encourage households to positively engage one another by providing fun filled activities for families like community softball games, talent shows, The Father/Daughter evening ball, The Family Obstacle Course Competition and family field trips.

Provide Jobs and Volunteer Opportunities for the Youth:

CA will have an after school program and summer camp for the following age groups (6-8), (9-11), (12-14), and (15-18). For the after school program once home work has been completed and lunch has been served, all children will break out into their age groups for recreation time (outside, swimming, gym, teen room). These breakout sessions will provide volunteer opportunities for the 15 – 18 age group. The 15-18 year olds who have complete the core life skills classes, a number of community service projects (TBD) and have shown leadership qualities among their peers will be candidates for the P-T Jr. Youth Counselor (JYC) paid positions.  The JYC’s